Jerry Jones: It was hard to pass up drafting Johnny Manziel

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones just told Sports Talk with Bo that it was very hard to pass up on drafting Johnny Manziel with the 16th overall pick even though he played things off afterwards.

“Well, it was. Yes, it was. First of all, I couldn’t believe he had fallen there. And secondly, we had spent a lot of time, I’d spent a lot of time. He’s the kind of player that can be that kind of difference-maker. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be a successful player. We have in Romo what I consider to be the better quarterback. But there’s also the future, there’s also insurance if you don’t have him. If anybody could have adjusted to Manziel’s style, we could have because we’re a lot like that with Romo.”

“The fact that we got Romo more production with that quality of player, took any of the positives (away from drafting Manziel). There’s no way any quarterback comes in here and beats out Tony Romo.”

“Flair, flash, show business was never a consideration here.”

“We didn’t spend a lot of time in this draft considering Manziel. We have a big commitment to Tony. We feel that anything we look at with quarterback would be down the road, in the future with a quarterback.”

“He’s (Manziel) got a chance to knock it out of the park. We all know this. He’s not just a quarterback, he’s a celebrity. He’s Elvis Presley. But at the end of the day, there’s no way we are going to be without [Tony] Romo for four or five or six years.”

“As you well know in here, Romo is by contract as well as by commitment is certainly the quarterback for the Cowboys for several years to come. There is no moving around that. I don’t care who you draft, that’s the way it would have been. That was going through our minds from the get-go. That’s why we didn’t spend a lot of time at all in this draft considering Manziel.”

“I’m not that gunned up by what a rookie quarterback can do for us this year. That takes times. This isn’t rebuilding time. As we look down the future, yes, but for coming in here and helping us win games right now, those odds are too far for me to get excited about. In my view, our best shot is a healthy Tony Romo.’’

Jerry really didn’t need to admit how much he wanted Manziel. It was quite obvious already.